Essays on the Yogasutra: Engaging the world in freedom

This book consists of five essays that have been revised from previous writings and include recent work of mine on Classical Yoga. Throughout these essays, I have challenged the often held radically dualistic and isolationistic interpretations of Yoga and suggest that as classically envisioned Yoga does not lead to the condemnation, abandonment or mere transcendence of embodied and material life, but to an enhanced engagement with the world, the world. Rather than approach Patanjali's Yoga-Sutra from the perspective of dualistic metaphysical assumptions (often derived from classical Samkhya), I have pursued a reading of the Yoga-Sutra that privileges the experience of yoga overmetaphysical abstractions. Drawing from the classical tradition, these essays explore how Yoga can culminate in a balanced integration of the spiritual, ethical, and material dimensions of life that incorporate a clarity of awareness with the integrity of being and action.

About the Author:

Ian Whicher is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba,Canada.His areas of specialization are Hinduism,the Philosophies of India,and yoga theory and practice.He is the author of The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana:A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga (1998). His current research interests include an exploration of Indic notions of spiritual liberation and their ethical implications and the relationship between yoga and Buddhism. Since completing graduate studies in Theology and the History of Religions at the University of Chicago,David Carpenter has taught at St Joseph's University in Philadelphia,where he is currently Associate Professor of the History of Religions.He is the author of Revelation,History,and the Dialogue of Religions:A Study of Bhartrhari and Bonaventure (1995).His research interests include the history of ancient and medieval Indian religions and the comparative study of spiritual practice.